Tuesday, March 31, 2026
So the sisters sent a message to him: “Lord, the one you love is sick.” When Jesus heard it, he said, “This sickness will not end in death but is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” Now Jesus loved Martha, her sister, and Lazarus. So when he heard that he was sick, he stayed two more days in the place where he was. Then after that, he said to the disciples, “Let’s go to Judea again.” John 11:3-7
When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days.; …he shouted with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” The dead man came out bound hand and foot with linen strips and with his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unwrap him and let him go.” Therefore, many of the Jews who came to Mary and saw what he did believed in him. John 11:17; 43-45
The Promise of Hope From Two Tombs
We are currently in a short Easter series called Risen, through which we will discover how the cross, burial, and resurrection of Jesus have changed history and can change our lives forever. Our key truth is Jesus’ death on the cross and resurrection from the tomb provide hope and life to all who believe. In Sunday’s message Pastor Jim talked about two tombs – the tomb of Lazarus and the tomb of Jesus. What is the significance of the two tombs and how do they speak to the promise of hope?
Mary, Martha, and their brother Lazarus were close friends of Jesus. He spent time at their house regularly and when Lazarus became seriously ill, they did what we all would do – sent word to their good friend. Jesus wasn’t just a good friend, He was their savior too, and they had seen Him heal people and perform miracles. Verse 17 of chapter 11 says When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. He found Mary and Martha mourning, and they told Him that He was too late. They told him if he had been there sooner Lazarus would not have died. Jesus told Martha that her brother would rise again, and she replied that she knew he would rise again in the resurrection on the last day. Jesus told her I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this? She said to him, Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world. (v25-27) Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead that day. Jesus said to her, “Didn’t I tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?” (v40)
Mary and Martha were frustrated and upset that Jesus didn’t come sooner but Jesus wasn’t careless or unfeeling. He had a reason for coming when he did. The people that were there and saw Jesus bring Lazarus back to life, witnessed Jesus giving one man his life back. They didn’t understand that day that they were witnessing a preview of Jesus would soon do in his own life, but they did see the glory of God displayed and they believed. Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead and freed him from his grave clothes. He told the people to unbind him. In the same way, Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection gives new life and forgiveness to all who will believe and reconciles us to God. As Lazarus was unbound from his grave clothes, we are freed from the bondage of our sin. Jesus raises us from the dead and breaks the bondage of sin that wraps us up from head to toe.
To most of us a tomb represents the end. Finality. Death. In Jesus we see that the tomb and death have no power over him. He has ultimate power over both the tomb and death. The two tombs speak to the promise of hope because Jesus’ death burial and resurrection saves all who will believe from the death, grave (separation from God), and the bondage of sin. We are saved from sin, death and the grave, and we are saved toforgiveness, new life, and eternity in heaven with him. We can have hope because we know the grave is not the end for us.
Are you still dead in your sin - in the grave and separated from God? Surrender as he calls you out of the grave, so that you are freed from the bondage of sin and forgiven in new life in him.
